Boost Your Downloads With Better Podcast Titles

As podcasters want more downloads, they can easily get more by spending a little time on their podcast titles. I read an article that said 8 out of 10 people will actually read your headline, but only two out of 10 will read the article (this was about blogs), but it goes to show you how important your headlines are. In podcasting, the title of your blog post or your episode is your headline.

Common Mistakes in Podcast Titles

Time and time again I see the title that is ” name of show episode 16.”

First off in Apple Podcasts, the title of your show is right above the title of your episode so there is no need to repeat it.

Second, nobody is searching for “episode 16.” If you want people to find it on your website, put it in the description because the headline is too valuable a space to waste it on an episode number. (That's my opinion). I can tell you this, I had someone who names their show with what I will call “inside baseball” title. For example, if I want to do a podcast about Ted Nugent I might call the podcast “The Motor City Madman” fancast. The problem is people looking for a Ted Nugent podcast aren't typing that, they are typing in two, maybe three words, “Ted Nugent Podcast.” (because Motor City Madman” is one of Ted's nicknames). So don't get cute with the name of your show and make the titles of your episodes count. I helped someone change their show name from an “inside baseball/cute” name to a “painfully obvious what the show is about” name and their downloads TRIPLED.

Make Podcast Titles That Spotlights the Main Takeaway

If you interview David Chessan from kindlepreneur.com, the title shouldn't be “David Chessan Interview.” It should be one of the big takeaways from the interview. It should be something that entices your audience to click. It might be “Would you spend $500 to earn $1200?” or “How to not waste time writing a book nobody will read.” Don't waste the opportunity that is the title of your show. Which is better, “Episode 17” or “How Jim Harold made podcasting his full-time gig”?

If you are having issues creating good headlines there is a cool inexpensive ($37) tool called Fresh Title that you type in keywords and it spits out a bunch headlines that you can then analyze. Here is a quick video

They will try to upsell you (but you can just say “no thank you” and stick with the $37 price.

Thrive Themes Headline Optimizer

Now that you have some ideas of podcasts titles, one way to analyze them is to use the data from your website. The Headline Optimizer from Thrive Themes will track how multiple potential headlines are working and you can set up criteria and after a certain amount of time or activity, the plugin crowns one headline the winner and uses it going forward. Here is a video

About The Author

My name is Dave Jackson I am an award-winning podcaster who has been podcasting since 2005.
I'm am a featured/keynote speaker at events, author of the book More Podcast Money, and I served as the Director of Podcasting for the New Media Expo.
I am best known for founding the School of Podcasting and help hundreds of podcasters launch successful podcasts